Sunday, April 4, 2010

St. Michael's parish in Windsor, ON, is always happy. to celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord. That happiness is also visible in the faces of people who come to church early in the morning to be present at the moment when the priest starts the small procession with the shroud, singing the troparion: "When you descended into hades, O Immortal One..." Then, after the transfer of the shroud they sing the troparion with lit candles in their hands: "Your Resurrection, O Christ..." People were eagerly awaiting the victorious Easter troparion: "Christos voskrese iz mertvych...Christ is risen from the dead..." It happened also on April 4th of this year, when we victoriously entered the church' doors, singing joyously. The doors were symbolically opened by knocking on them with the cross, and then we sung the Easter troparion and started Resurrection Matins. Matins were followed by the Divine liturgy and concluded with the blessing of the paschal food. After the annointment with the oil of gladness and greeting each other with the greeting "Christos Voskrese", everyone used the opportunity to wish each other a joyous feast and enjoy the fellowship. They were looking forward to the upcoming Sunday, when the Artos – a large round bread with a cross on the top – is cut and distributed during the mirovanije. We were especially happy to see many people in our church who come rarely or almost never come during the year and we expressed our desire to see them more often among us.